


taking the wheels off

by youcouldmakealife



Series: between the teeth [27]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcouldmakealife/pseuds/youcouldmakealife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey,” Dave says, in the voicemail message he leaves. “You know we’re only two weeks into the season, right? If you took your wheels off, put them back on, we have a long way to go. If your wheels are still on and you’re doing this shit — you’re insane, I love ya, and you were fucking right about holding out on the Isles. Fucking A, kid.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	taking the wheels off

Training camp goes well. Eisler was traded in the offseason for a couple of cheap bottom six — probably bottom three, honestly — guys. It freed up cap space to pick up a better goaltender, going cheap from Detroit because their third goaltender was making serious strides, their second had a stand out season, and their first — the Islanders’ first, now — was on the wrong end of thirty.

David had been a little irritated at first, because the Chapman-Kurmazov-Eisler line had been working well since it began, and there was no guarantee whoever came up to the first line would have chemistry with him and Oleg, or even play well enough for it, but Bradley slots in well. He’s not as big as Eisler, can’t throw his weight around like Eisler does, but he makes up for it with speed, can keep up with David when he’s streaking forward better than Kurmazov does, which will hopefully result in more two on ones during the season. 

Preseason goes well too. David knows it’s meaningless, that sometimes it isn’t even a good indication of how a team will be in the regular season, but the goalie they picked up from Detroit is solid in every game he plays, Bradley still clicks with the line outside of the structure of practice, and they rack up more wins than losses.

Obviously the fact that training camp and preseason went well are no guarantee that the season will, but. The season goes pretty well too, at least the first few weeks of it. David gets two points in the first game — one a goal deflecting a one-timer on the power play, the other an assist on a goal by Bradley, who’s still clicking along, playing better with David and Oleg than he did with the second line last year by a long shot, enough so that David’s slightly concerned it’s a fluke, and his play will dip. For now it’s working, though, and that’s what the Isles need — something working for them.

He gets three points in the next game — all assists — but they still lose the game. Even so, at the end of the week, David is listed as a star of the week, with two goals (a lone point in their third game), and four assists, sitting beside a Stars goalie, who has two shut outs in the two games he played, and a KC guy who had a hat trick in the first game of the season, and one assist in the games following.

_holy shit man_ , David gets from Jake, _whaaaaat. I miss u :(_ , from Eisler, who’s on the Red Wings second line and hasn’t yet produced a point, and a lot of smiley faces from Kiro. Also an email from Dave that says _Way to fucking go_. It’s the first week, though, it’s barely begun, and the media’s already smirking, saying he can’t sustain it.

A week later Dave calls him. Usually he — or his assistant, David guesses — emails David to set up a convenient time, but this time he calls without warning, at a time David happens to be in practice.

“Hey,” Dave says, in the voicemail message he leaves. “You know we’re only two weeks into the season, right? If you took your wheels off, put them back on, we have a long way to go. If your wheels are still on and you’re doing this shit — you’re insane, I love ya, and you were fucking right about holding out on the Isles. Fucking A, kid.”

When they reach Pittsburgh for the final game of October, David has six goals and fourteen assists, another star of the week, and a points per game average that’s been wavering up and down along the two per game line. Right now it’s 1.82, which he thinks is pretty good. It’s the best in the league, at least.

_good game_ Jake’s sent him after every game except the last one, where he texted _ok u need to have a bad game eventully ur makin us all look bad :P_

_Get used to it_ David sent back, with a _:P_ of his own.

The Islanders record isn’t as good as David’s — David’s line is the only consistent offence, and they still don’t have consistently good defence, or any defence at all, really — but they’re fifth in the east, which is far better than they’ve been at the end of any other October David’s played with them.

Kiro texted him earlier that week, _drinks after the game?_ , followed by _not a question. drinks after the game!_ , which made David laugh. _Do I have a choice?_ he sent back, somewhat rhetorically, but Kiro still immediately responded with, _nope! winner pays!_

Kiro’s the one paying the bill. David’s line plays well, Gregoire plays well in net, their power play converts twice, but Pittsburgh still beats them 4-3. The Islanders were weak defensively, which is something David is grimly accustomed to, and Pittsburgh has enough firepower on their first two lines to tear through even adequate defence. No one expected the Islanders to win this game, which only makes the taste in David’s mouth worse.

If he hadn’t already agreed to meet Kiro after, he might have just gone back to the hotel, but now he can’t. Kiro hadn’t made it a question in the first place, but if David agrees to do something, he’s hardly going to bow out, even if he has to meet a player who bested him. Not Kiro specifically, and David feels guilty for thinking it, but it’s easier to hang out with Kiro because Kiro didn’t play all that much a part in the Pens’ victory. His line played fine but no better, and he didn’t contribute to any of the Pittsburgh goals, so David can hardly credit him with the win.

As soon as he has the thought he pushes it down. He knows hockey’s a team sport. Obviously it is, since David has the most points in the entire league and they’re still losing games. He goes where Kiro tells him to, waits for him, hands shoved in his pockets, because he feels awkward lurking around Consol like he isn’t an opponent.

“You are very frowny,” Kiro says, startling David.

“Frowny isn’t a word,” David says.

“I make it one,” Kiro says. “Frowny.”

“Where are we going?” David asks.

“Frowny face,” Kiro blurts instead of an answer. At least, David thinks it isn’t an answer. He’s seen bars with dumber names, he wouldn’t be surprised if it _was_ the name of a bar, but it seems a little too coincidental. “It is a word! You lied to me, Davidson.”

“It’s not like a _word_ word,” David says.

“English is stupid,” Kiro says. “Come, we get drinks,” he adds, starting to walk without waiting for David, so David has to jog to catch up with him. 

“I am buying a drink for every shot you made,” Kiro tells him when they reach the bar, which is not, as David suspected, named Frowny Face. It has a pretty generic name, actually, the kind of name you could find at a bar in every city in America. “How many?”

“Six,” David says, automatic, then, “You can’t buy me _six_ drinks.”

“And a shot for every point,” Kiro adds cheerfully. “Six beers and two shots for him, please,” he tells the waitress with a grin.

“No,” David protests. “One beer each,” he amends. 

She looks over at Kiro. “To start,” Kiro says.

“You’re ridiculous,” David says, when Kiro pouts at him and complains he’s no fun, once the waitress is out of earshot. “I have a flight tomorrow.”

“Hangovers are bad on flights,” Kiro says, wincing. David wouldn’t know. “You have a point.”

David sips the beer slowly once it arrives, hoping, probably futilely, that Kiro will follow his example.

“You look so good out there,” Kiro says. “No one would think ‘that is a man who cannot swim. The only water he likes is frozen’.”

“I can swim,” David protests. 

“Thanks to me,” Kiro says, and David rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue, because he can’t deny he’s better at it now. He still doesn’t like doing it, but at least it’s easier.

Kiro kicks him under the table. “Ow, what?” David says.

“When you win award, invite me!” Kiro tells him.

“It’s still October,” David says. 

“You will win,” Kiro says, sounding confident, and then, when the waitress comes back. “Shots please!” 

“I don’t want to do shots,” David protests.

“Vodka, because I think he might die if we do Jäger,” Kiro tells the waitress, and she laughs. “And two more beers. We are celebrating!”

“We’re not celebrating,” David says.

“We are,” Kiro says. “Because you are going to win.”

“Stop saying that,” David says.

“Are you superstitious?” Kiro asks, sounding amused.

“No,” David says. “Just.”

It’s not superstitious to think it’s foolish to talk about winning things before the season’s even properly underway, like you’re asking to fail.

“You _are_ ,” Kiro crows.

“I’m not,” David says.

“Then you celebrate with me,” Kiro says, and when the shots arrive David lets the vodka burn its way through him.

He’s a little wobbly on his way back to his hotel room, skirting curfew by a closer margin than he’s really comfortable with. He didn’t have the ridiculous six beers and two shots Kiro joked about, but he’s still had more than he usually would, and Kiro insisted on sharing a cab so he could make sure David got back to his hotel, which was also ridiculous, but not worth arguing, unlike the drink count.

He’s got a text from Jake he didn’t notice getting, _i didnt no i was talkin to the next konstanovich_. David supposes even autocorrect couldn’t fix that one.

David’s a long way from Konstantinovich, if he’ll ever get there, but he’s _not_ superstitious, so instead of telling Jake not to call him that, not to compare them, he instead replies with _Privet. :)_ , and spares a moment think with amusement about how confused Jake will be. He thinks Oleg would find it funny. Maybe he’ll tell him tomorrow.

He tells Oleg during breakfast, without mentioning it was Jake who texted him. 

Oleg laughs.


End file.
